Cory Booker on Principles & Values

First African-American senator from New Jersey

Democrat Cory Booker was sworn into the Senate on Thursday, becoming the first African-American senator from New Jersey and the first African-American elected to the Senate since Illinois sent Barack Obama to Congress in 2004. New Jersey is now the first
state to be represented by a black senator and a Latino senator--Sen. Robert Menendez is Cuban-American--at the same time. Slightly more than 42 percent of New Jersey's population is black and Latino.

"That's kind of incredible,"
Booker said. "New Jersey is a special kind of place." Booker said that to New Jersey's credit, race was never an issue in his campaign.

Booker will serve out the remainder of the late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg's term, which ends in January 2015.
Booker will serve on three Senate committees: Commerce, Science and Transportation; Small Business and Entrepreneurship; and Environment and Public Works. Two of his assignments--commerce and environment--also were committee assignments for Lautenberg.

Vegetarian, non-smoker, non-drinker, but over-eater

Booker doesn't drink, let alone smoke. Vegetarian overeating is his only vice, and he fights a constant battle with his weight. After a long day, he says, his bad habit would be to turn on Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, eat a whole
pizza, "and then do some ice cream." With encouragement from his Twitter friends, he lost 30 pounds in early 2011, only to gain them back with interest.
This summer, he tipped the scales at 309 before being horrified by news photographs of his own jowly face--and receiving stern advice from his friend Mike Bloomberg to "cut it out." Since then, he has dropped 40 pounds, with the goal of losing 30 more.

I believe in Newark as the city of opportunity

342 years ago, Puritans came ashore onto the banks of the Passaic River, searching for freedom and the promised land, they looked at the wild woods and uncultivated lands here and said, "I believe in the infinite strength of God's children, I believe in
Newark." When waves of immigrants poured into our City from across the globe, yearning to be free, with worn hands that would build this City, they said in countless foreign languages, "I believe this is the city of opportunity, I believe in Newark."